Parliament Question: Masterplan for Artificial Recharge of Groundwater

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 860 ANSWERED ON 24.07.2025 MASTERPLAN FOR ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE OF GROUNDWATER

860. SMT. HARSIMRAT KAUR BADAL

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) the allocation and utilization of funds under the 'Masterplan for Artificial Recharge of Groundwater' so far, State/UT-wise;

(b) the details regarding the State-level nodal agency that has been specified for overseeing this scheme in the different States especially in Punjab;

(c) the number and type of structures for artificial groundwater recharge that have been planned and completed under the 'Masterplan for Artificial Recharge of Groundwater' in the country, State/UT-wise and district-wise in Punjab;

(d) the estimated rainwater harnessing potential of these structures in the country, State-wise; and

(e) the functional status of these structures, State/UT-wise? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY)

(a) Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater- 2020 has been prepared by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) in consultation with States/UTs which is a macro level plan indicating various GW recharge structures for the different terrain conditions of the country. The plan aims to construct approximately 1.42 crore such structures across India, potentially harnessing about 185 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) of rainwater. This involves identifying state and region-specific GW conservation related interventions suitable to local conditions like existing status of ground water resources, average rainfall, rock and soil structure etc.

The plan has been shared with all state governments for taking up appropriate field interventions in convergence with schemes like MGNREGS, PMKSY and other state schemes and hence no specific fund has been allotted for this purpose.

However, the Central Ground Water Board has taken up construction of several artificial recharge structures in many states for demonstrative purpose which can be further scaled up by the state governments. Check dams, Percolation Tanks, Recharge shafts etc. have been constructed in the Aspirational Districts of Warangal, YSR Kadappa and Osmanabad at a total expenditure of Rs.54.38 cr.

Innovative recharge cum storage structures like Bridge-cum- Bhandaras have been built in Maharashtra with 1an expenditure of Rs.30 cr. Further, around 130 anicuts, check dams etc. have been constructed in the water stressed parts of Rajasthan at an expenditure of around Rs. 120 cr.

Moreover, under the umbrella campaign of Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) being implemented by this Ministry, during the period 2021-2025 construction/renovation of 1.14 crore artificial recharge, rain water harvesting and other water conservation structures at an estimated cost of Rs. 1.18 lakh cr have been coordinated across the country in convergence with MGNREGS.

(b) State Governments have been taking up implementation of Master plan as suited to their internal needs.

It is not mandatory to have a Nodal agency for its implementation as the structures proposed to be constructed are to be taken up in convergence under several existing central and state schemes. As informed by the government of Punjab, the Soil and Water Conservation department has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementation of Master plan in the state in the selected priority areas.

(c) The number and type of structures for artificial groundwater recharge that have been recommended under the ‘Master plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater' in the country, including in Punjab, is

provided at Annexure-I. Further, based on the persuasion of this Ministry, most of the States/UTs, including Punjab have taken up the implementation in selected priority areas. However, since the Master plan is only recommendatory in nature, actual construction of structures in the field may vary in terms of location, size, type etc. as felt appropriate by the implementing agency. As per the information received, the Water Resources Department, Punjab has constructed 236 injection wells, 425 check dams, 2556 soak pits, 123 new ponds and 5 Khambati wells, spread across all the districts of Punjab, most of which are as guided by the Master plan.

(d) As per the Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Ground Water, it is estimated that approximately 185 Billion Cubic Metres (BCM) of monsoon rainfall can be harnessed across the country. The State/UT-wise estimated rainwater harvesting potential through the proposed structures is provided at Annexure-II.

(e) The operation and maintenance of constructed structures falls in the purview of respective states which have to ensure that such structures are duly cleaned, maintained and repaired from time to time.

*** 2ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 860 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 24.07.2025 REGARDING “MASTERPLAN FOR ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE OF GROUNDWATER”.

State wise Number and Type of Artificial Recharge Structures under Master Plan for Artificial Recharge-2020 S. State CD RS RTRW PT Gabi DS Inje SS SS Other Total N H on ctio D Dev s o n / well WS s Dev 1 Andhra Pradesh 13143 26209 263694 13085 0 0 0 0 0 0 316131 2 Bihar 122 5682 50000 428 0 12679 13811 0 0 8415 91137 3 Chhattisgarh 0 25687 118339 3426 0 0 0 0 0 30989 178441 4 Delhi 12 22706 304500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 327218 5 Goa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 931 931 6 Gujarat 3985 8607 1320947 701 0 0 0 0 0 2072 1336312 7 Haryana 335 44392 304377 0 0 0 0 0 0 393811 742915 8 Himachal Pradesh 2290 556 1050 0 108118 851 133 460 0 784 114242 9 Jharkhand 36062 1268 521692 5173 0 0 0 0 0 27455 591650 10 Karnataka 50527 436 0 9918 0 0 0 0 0 344 61225 11 Kerala 1260 0 482788 1395 196116 0 5 121 0 67943 749628 12 Madhya Pradesh 76002 76002 408938 12309 0 0 0 0 0 152085 725336 13 Maharashtra 19243 838 5646772 7188 0 0 0 0 0 8995 5683036 14 NE States 18821 0 15700 0 18835 0 0 0 11531 473149 538036 15 Odisha 1292 550 15700 1111 0 0 0 1051 0 2782 22486 16 Punjab 85 79839 551308 0 0 0 13410 0 0 455920 1100562 17 Rajasthan 32744 231 0 63158 0 0 0 0 0 674067 770200 18 Sikkim 380 0 1500 0 450 0 0 125 540 340 3335 19 Tamilnadu 7180 70460 0 2397 0 0 0 0 0 7685 87722 20 Telangana 11552 22188 555093 10636 0 0 0 0 0 0 599469 21 Uttar Pradesh 5582 5582 0 493 0 0 0 0 0 12011 23668 22 Uttarakhand 2870 0 5543 810 0 0 0 0 0 6300 15523 23 West Bengal 453 0 6740 8551 1136 0 8403 568 0 16914 42765 24 UT-Lakshadweep 0 0 9597 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9597 25 UT-Puducherry 71 283 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 203 571 26 UT-DNH 49 0 12109 17 0 0 0 0 0 30 12205 27 UT-Chandigarh 0 10300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10300 28 UT-Jammu & 0 0 1150 0 245 0 0 0 230 560 2185 Kashmir 29 UT-Ladakh 0 0 0 0 46 0 0 0 15 231 292 30 UT-Andaman & 350 0 2250 1000 150 0 0 100 170 0 4020 Nicobar Islands 31 UT-DIU & 0 0 14006 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14006 Daman Total 284410 401816 10613793 141810 325096 13530 35762 2425 12486 2344016 1417514 4 Note -CD-Check dam, RS-Recharge Shaft, RTRWH-R oof Top Rainwater Harvesting, PT=Percolation Tank, DS- Desilting, SSD- Sub-Surface Dyke, SS Dev/WS Dev- Springshed Development/Watershed Development activities, Others - Other Structures 3ANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 860 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 24.07.2025 REGARDING “MASTERPLAN FOR ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE OF GROUNDWATER”.

Scope for Artificial Recharge for Master Plan for Artificial Recharge-2020 S. State Estimated rainwater No harnessing potential

(MCM) 1 Andhra Pradesh 1246.95 2 Bihar 66352.03 3 Chhattisgarh 8609.63 4 Delhi 94.62 5 Goa 393.16 6 Gujarat 4459.26 7 Haryana 679.26 8 Jharkhand 4898.06 9 Karnataka 12874.17 10 Kerala 12455.00 11 Madhya Pradesh 9188.29 12 Maharashtra 3871.98 13 Odisha 1786.49 14 Punjab 1200.99 15 Rajasthan 5305.00 16 Sikkim 332.41 17 Tamil Nadu 959.33 18 Telangana 1186.47 19 Uttar Pradesh 2743.00 20 Uttarakhand 33449.00 21 West Bengal 8532.86 22 UT-Puducherry 32.05 23 UT-DNH 6.50 24 UT-Andaman & Nicobar 4436.05 Islands TOTAL 185092.56

Note: Accurate estimation for North-Eastern and Hilly states is not possible due to complex hydrogeological conditions. ***** 4